Movable heel slipproof pipe wrench



March 1955 A. F. HAIRSTON MOVABLE HEEL SLIPPROOF PIPE WRENCH 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 27, 1952 INVENTOR ANDREW F. HAIRSTON ATTORNEY March 8, 1955 A. F. HAIRSTON 2,703,503

MOVABLE HEEL SLIPPROOF PIPE WRENCH Filed Oct. 27, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY INVENTORY ANDREW F. HAIRSTON United States Patent MOVABLE HEEL SLIPPROOF PIPE WRENCH Andrew F. Hairston, Detroit, Mich.

Application October 27, 1952, Serial No. 317,092

3 Claims. (Cl. 81-126) This invention relates to a movable heel slip-proof pipe wrench and has for an object to provide an improved pipe wrench which is substantially slip-proof about a pipe, irrespective of the fact that the pipe may be wet or slippery.

A further object of this invention is to provide a slipproof pipe wrench having a movable heel jaw in abutting relation with a pivoted wrench handle lever so that the act of engaging the wrench jaws about a pipe causes the handle lever to pivot and push the heel jaw under a substantial mechanical leverage into slip-proof engagement with the pipe between the wrench jaws.

A further object of this invention is to provide a pipe wrench having one sliding jaw which has a means for locking it in pipe engaging position, but which locking means is easily released to permit the sliding jaw to open to the maximum amount, and then the sliding jaw may be easily pushed through the wrench body to pipe engaging position, and then when the wrench is moved in plpe rotating direction, the handle lever of the wrench pushes a cooperating heel jaw more tightly into engagement with the pipe, and the greater the resistance of the pipe to rotation, the greater is the pressure applied by the handle on the heel jaw to cause it to grip more tightly.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide a slip-proof pipe wrench wherein the jaws are provided with serrations slanted in a direction to grip the pipe in the direction of rotation and to release the pipe in the opposite direction.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, this invention comprises the combination, construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter set forth, claimed and disclosed in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a front plan view, partly in section, of the pipe wrench of this invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view looking at the top of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view looking at the bottom of Fig. 1.

Fig. '4 is a view on line 4-4 of Fig. 5 showing the heel jaw in maximum pipe engaging position.

Fig. 5 is a view on line 55 of Fig. 4, the heel jaw leg and wrench handle being omitted.

Fig. 6 is an exploded bottom perspective view of the heel jaw, leg, wrench handle, and pawl.

There is shown at 10 the movable heel slip-proof pipe wrench of this invention. This wrench comprises a main wrench body 11 having an elongated slot 12 along one side thereof, and an elongated recess 14 along the opposite side thereof, there being an inner wall 15 dividing the slot 12 from the recess 14, and an outer recess wall 16 along the opposite side of the main wrench body 11. A cover 17 is detachably secured over the recess 14 by means of the five stud screws 18, two of which are secured in the inner wall 15 and the other three being secured into the outer recess wall 16.

Slidably reciprocable in the slot 12 is the serrated stem 20 of the J shaped jaw 21. The movement of the jaw stem 20 through slot 12 is obviously limited by its J jaw 21 in one direction, and a stop means 22 consisting of a boss or the like is provided at the opposite end of the jaw stem 20 to limit the withdrawal of the jaw stem 20 from slot 12 and prevent it from dropping out or being lost therefrom, a cooperating notch 23 being provided in the adjacent edge of the wrench body 11.

Yieldably urged by the spring 24 through a suitable aperture 25 in wall 15 is a serrated pawl 26 having serrations 27 urged into cooperative relationship with the serrations 28 of the jaw stem 20. It will be observed that 80 the ratchet teeth 27 of the pawl 26 and ratchet teeth 28 2,703,503 Patented Mar. 8, 1955 of jaw stem 20 are so slanted that they will lock the stem against movement in a jaw opening direction, but that the pawl will yield against its spring 24 and permit the stem to move in a jaw closing direction when the jaw end thereof is pressed toward the wrench body 11.

In order to permit the jaw 21 to be moved away from the main body 11 against the action of the pawl, the pawl 26 is provided with a threaded pin 30 extending through a slot 31 in the cover 17 and a handle knob 32 is threaded thereon for retracting the pawl 26 against the action of the spring 24.

Cooperating with the serrated J shaped jaw 21 is a serrated heel jaw 33 having a leg 34 integrally extending therefrom of a size and shape to extend into and reciprocate within the recess 14 of the wrench body 11. Inasmuch as the pawl 26 may also occupy part of the recess 14, the heel jaw leg 34 is suitably notched at 35 and 36 so that the pawl 26 and pawl pin 30 will not interfere with the longitudinal sliding movement of the tongue 34. As will be observed in Fig. 4, the end 37 of the jaw leg 34 stops short of the end of slot 14. A wrench handle lever 38 of substantial length is pivoted at 40 to the main wrench body 11, this pivot 40 being located adjacent the slot side of the wrench body. At the opposite corner of the wrench handle 38 there is provided a link pivot 41 loosely connected by a link 42 to a pivot 43 in the jaw leg 34. At least one of the holes in the link 42 is somewhat larger than the link pivot'41 or 43, thereby providing a loose connection between the wrench handle 38 and the jaw leg 34.

As a result of this loose connection, when the handle 38 is moved in a direction to rotate a pipe held between the jaws 21 and 33, the corner 44 moves into abutting relation with the end 37 of leg 34 as shown in Fig. 4, thus, pushing the leg 34 and its heel jaw 33 even more tightly against the pipe engaged between the jaws. The mechanical advantage providing this push action results from the short distance between link pivot 41 and lever pivot 40 as compared to the long distance between lever pivot 40 and the handle end 45 of lever 38.

It will be noted that both serrated jaws 21 and 33 are curvilinear so as to fit more snugly about a pipe, and further, that the serrations 46 on J jaw 21 and serrations 47 on heel jaw 33 are so slanted that when the wrench is moved in a pipe rotating direction, the serrations 46 and 47 tend to dig into and more tightly grip the pipe surface, irrespective of any grease or moisture that might be present.

To enable the jaws 21 to be moved to the maximum closed position, in spite of the curvilinear shape of the serrations thereon, the end of one of the jaws may be bifurcated as shown at 48 and the other jaw end will be complementary shaped as at 50. This permits jaws 21 and 33 to approach each other more closely.

In operation, in order to open the jaws more easily, the wrench 10 will be held by its handle 45 with its jaw end hanging downwardly. The handle knob 32 is then moved to retract the pawl 26 against its spring 24, thus, permitting the J jaw 21 to drop downwardly as its stem 20 moves through slot 12 until the slot abutment 22 enters the notch 23. Then, in this position, the wrench is placed about the pipe to be rotated and the jaw 21 is then merely pressed inwardly in the direction of the heel jaw 33, the pawl 26 retracting against its spring 24 to pass over the serrations 28, which it will be observed are suitably slanted as are the serrations 27, until the serrations 46 of jaw 21 contact one side of the pipe while the serrations 47 of heel jaw 33 contact the other side. Then, grasping the lever 38 by its handle 45, the wrench is turned in the pipe rotating direction. This causes the lever 38 to rotate about its pivot 41 and causes its abutting end 44 to abut and push against the jaw leg 30, and thus, push the heel jaw 33 more tightly into engagement with the pipe between jaws 21 and 33. Also, the slanted shape of the jaw serrations 46 and 47 causes the pipe to be gripped even more tightly, even though oil, grease, mud, or moisture may be present, thus, enabling the pipe to be securely gripped without any slippage and enabling the pipe to be readily rotated.

While the device has been shown and the structure described in detail, it is obvious that this invention is not to be considered as being limited to the exact form disclosed, and that changes in detail and construction may be made therein within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of this invention.

Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of this invention, what is claimed is:

l. A movable heel slip-proof pipe wrench comprising a main wrench body having an elongated slot extending through one side thereof and an elongated recess extending adjacent the opposite side thereof, an inner wall in said body between said slot and said recess, said recess being open to the top of said body, a J shaped serrated pipe engaging jaw having a serrated stern slidably extending through said body slot and stop means on the end of said stem preventing said stem end from sliding out of said body slot, a serrated pawl yieldably and retractably extending through said inner body recess wall into engagement with said serrated jaw stem, means connected to said pawl for retracting said pawl from said jaw stern permitting said jaw stem to slide through said slot to said stop means, a serrated heel jaw having an integrally extending leg slidably mounted in said recess between said inner recess wall and an outer recess wall with said heel jaw in cooperative relationship to said J jaw, said jaw leg stopping short of its end of said elongated recess, a recess cover attached to said main wrench body over said recess and said jaw leg, a wrench handle lever having one end thereof adjacent the body slot side pivoted in said main wrench body, link means loosely connecting said heel jaw leg to the opposite side of said handle lever within said recess, one end of said outer recess wall limiting the sliding movement of said heel jaw leg into said recess, the opposite end of said outer recess wall limiting the movement of said handle lever about its pivot, said loose link means withdrawing said jaw leg into its recess under wrench releasing movement of said handle lever, the linked ends of said jaw leg and handle lever moving into abutting pushing relation under wrench engaging movement of said lever to thereby push said heel jaw into cooperative slip-proof relation with said J jaw about a pipe engaged by said jaws.

A wrench as in claim 1, the main portion of said jaw being solid, the end portion alone of said J jaw being bifurcated, the corresponding end of said heel jaw being complementary thereto.

3. A movable heel slip-proof pipe wrench comprising a wrench body having an elongated slot extending through one side thereof and an elongated recess extending adjacent the opposite side thereof, an inner wall in said body between said slot and said recess, said recess being open to the top of said body, a J shaped pipe engaging jaw having a stern slidably extending through said body slot and stop means on the end of said stem preventing said stem from sliding out of said body slot, a pawl yieldably and retractably extending through said inner body recess wall into gripping engagement with said jaw stern, handle means external of said body connected to said pawl for retracting said pawl from said jaw stem permitting said jaw stem to slide through said slot to its stop means, a heel jaw having an integrally extending leg slidably mounted in said recess between said inner recess wall and an outer recess wall with said heel jaw in cooperative relationship to said J jaw, said jaw leg stopping short of its end of said elongated recess, a recess cover attached to said wrench body closing said recess over said jaw leg, a wrench handle lever having one end thereof adjacent the body slot side pivoted in said wrench body, link means loosely connecting said heel jaw leg to the opposite side of said handle lever within said recess, said loose link means withdrawing said jaw leg into its recess under wrench releasing movement of said handle lever, the linked ends of said jaw leg and handle lever moving into abutting pushing relation under wrench engaging movement of said lever to thereby push said heel jaw into cooperative slip-proof relation with said J jaw about a pipe engaged by said jaws.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 421,688 Fisher Feb. 18, 1890 824,081 Reynolds June 19, 1906 866,077 Sharar Sept. 17, 1907 1,174,907 Stickles et al Mar. 7, 1916 1,391,337 Minney Sept. 20, 1921 1,557,690 Hill Oct. 20, 1925 

